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My bad. You're right. Cuban league is a little better than Mexican league.

But still, where do you see anything about his defense? Cespedes would be worth only 1.0-1.5 more wins than Duda if he played in the NL with his defense. And Cespedes is a MUCH better offensive player than this guy in several areas.

I'd say it's significantly better personally. A lot of Cuban players have came to the big leagues right away from over there. The Mexican league is probably the equivalent to A ball.

He supposedly has an above average arm and has impressed scouts with it. Cespedes was decent in the OF when he played LF instead of CF. He obviously lacked the range for CF, but he's got a very strong arm.

Cespedes and Alvarez put up similar numbers in their last seasons in Cuba, and again Cespedes was older. Alvarez needs to work on his plate discipline, but at least he makes a good amount of contact.

For a team lacking high-end outfield options, he could be a nice investment for us. He will require a multi-year deal, but the money shouldn't be too crazy.

His lack of plate discipline says it all. Just going with a quick visual its seems like his OBP would only be about .04 points higher than his batting average. I don't see him hitting .300 consistently, more like .280 (which is probably a very optimistic number), so we're looking at a likely .320 OBP. I wouldn't mind taking a chance on him depending on the contract but comparing him to someone like Cespedes is a stretch.

Originally Posted by Mike Piazza

But I have to say that my time with the Mets wouldn't have been the same without the greatest fans in the world. One of the hardest moments of my career, was walking off the field at Shea Stadium and saying goodbye. My relationship with you made my time in New York the happiest of my career and for that, I will always be grateful.

Their skill-sets don't even compare IMO. Cespedes was far and AWAY superior. They did not "put up similar numbers"

Cespedes hit 33 HR, 49 BB, 40 K. He hit over .300 for 7 out of 8 seasons. He averaged .420 OBP in his final 3 seasons there.

They aren't even in the same ballpark!! The gulf in skill between the two is large!

Yeah, he'd be a nice investment if he didn't cost anything. If you gotta throw 28/4 at him (which is probably what it'd take), it'd be incredibly stupid.

Alvarez, a right-handed hitter who played for Camaguey in Serie Nacional, defected from Cuba last summer and has been playing professionally in Vera Cruz, Mexico, since October. The 6-foot-2, 190 pound Alvarez can play all three outfield positions and has impressed Major League scouts with his above-average arm during league-play in Mexico.

So yeah he's got a nice arm and he's got a larger frame than Cespedes who is only 5'10". This guy is going to hit for some power.

SB numbers don't tell the whole story about how fast a guy is, it has more to with reading pitchers and getting good jumps.

Cespedes obviously has better plate discipline and likely more power at this point, but Alvarez can hit for similar power numbers as he continues to mature.

With our need for high upside right-handed outfielders and seeing how good Cespedes did in his rookie season, I'd take a gamble on this guy.

Right? I don't know why more people aren't open to it. This guy has power, plays outfield, has a nice arm and bats right-handed. Not to mention he's young, I bet Hudgens could help him out a little with drawing walks.

Right? I don't know why more people aren't open to it. This guy has power, plays outfield, has a nice arm and bats right-handed. Not to mention he's young, I bet Hudgens could help him out a little with drawing walks.

He's not ready for MLB in my opinion. But he might be worth something between the Leonys Martin and Yasiel Puig deals.

Basically, he did break out last year, but a breakout at age 23 in Cuba should be somewhat as suspect as a breakout at age 23 in A+ ball. That said, he did tie his Cuban club's record for HR, while setting records for hits and RBI. And scouts seem to think he'll be solid in RF, with a good arm.

In the current market, where salaries are going up, outfield talent especially seems to be fetching a good price, and where you can no longer splurge on most international talents due to the cap, and where Cespedes was a huge success last year, a player like this not subject to the cap is still going to get a good price.

I would bet he gets something like 6/30, and a lot of people will question it saying he's not as good as Puig or Martin. But that still looks like a much better investment than Cody Ross at 3/26.